1904 The New York City subway system makes its maiden run. The first line runs right through Times Square, making it much easier for audiences from the far reaches of Manhattan to get to the Broadway theatres quickly and cheaply. Lines to the outer boroughs are added in subsequent years.

1952 The first (and unsuccessful) attempt to turn Giuseppe Verdi's Aida into a Broadway musical. Called My Darlin' Aida, the production is directed by Charles Friedman, who also supplied lyrics for Verdi's music. The show runs 89 performances at the Winter Garden. A more successful adaption comes along in 2000, but only after jettisoning Verdi's score.

1980 The Actors' Equity Association has an anti-trust suit filed against it today by a group of major playwrights, including David Mamet. The organization is demanding that actors who participate in Off-Off Broadway showcase presentations be guaranteed work in future productions of the play. The playwrights win, and the guarantee is no longer valid.

1992John Leguizamo's second major one-man show, Spic-O-Rama, opens at the Westside Theatre. His first show, Mambo Mouth, opened in 1991 and it won him an Obie Award. The new show, in which he looks at his family from a childhood perspective, runs 80 performances. Leguizamo makes his Broadway debut in 1998 in another one-man show called, Freak, which earns him Tony nominations for Best Play and Best Actor in a Play.

1995The Public Theater is host for a show that recounts African-American history through a tap dance revue. George C. Wolfe directs Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk in its pre-Broadway run downtown at the Public's Newman Theatre. The show, conceived and choreographed by "tap dance kid" Savion Glover, transfers to Broadway's Ambassador Theatre in April 1996, where it wins a Tony Award for Best Choreography, and is nominated for Best Musical.

2011David Henry Hwang's Chinglish, a comedy about an Ohio businessman selling his goods in China—where there is mutual misunderstanding of language and business etiquette—opens on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre. The play, performed in English and Mandarin (with projected English supertitles), stars Jennifer Lim and Gary Wilmes.